By Michael, on November 28th, 2011 
Food Network hopes to be starting off the New Year with a bang thanks to a fierce new reality show that brings its top chefs and their teams of celebrities into the kitchen. The show will feature Rachel Ray and Guy Fieri as its TV chef hosts as they lead their teams to a hopeful win. Talk about inter-network competition!
Rachel Ray and Guy Fieri are two of the network's most popular chefs as each hosts their own name sake show. Rachel Ray has been on the Food Network since 2001 with her show "30 Minute Meals." She has since hosted a variety of specials and spin offs including "Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels" and "$40 a Day." Guy Fieri has only been around since 2006 when he won "The Next Food Network Star." Since his debut, Fieri has hosted numerous specials and several live cooking shows. Both chefs are two of the biggest names on the Food Network and their own particular expertise will add greatly to their team's win or demise.
Both chefs will be given their own team of celebrities whom they must guide to win a variety of weekly challenges. The show, "Celebrity Cook-Off," will air for 6 weeks and it premieres January 1st at 9 pm Eastern time. There will be eight minor celebrities from Olympic athletes to musical artists that each enjoy cooking and being in the kitchen. Ray and Fieri will guide and help their teams of amateur cookers to win so that the eventual winner will be able to donate $50,000 to their favorite charity organization.
Each of the 6 shows will feature a challenging aspect of the food and culinary service industry. You can expect to cheer on your favorites as they manage a New York City food truck and as they try to launch a new restaurant. They will work with all types of the kitchen mediums from BBQ smokers to chopsticks. Expect the challenges to be full of dramatic surprises and comedic elements as the celebrities try to navigate the world of haute cuisine.
In order to narrow down the contestants and keep the field even, each team will have to offer their weakest link who will compete in a blind taste competition. The last two celebrities left will have to secure the title for their TV chef master and for the benefit of their charity. This is sure to be a fun filled show full of yelling, scurrying, cheating and laughs as you cheer on either Team Rachel or Team Guy to the finish line.
The contenders for the title of winning the "Celebrity Cook-off" challenge include Olympic gold medalist Summer Sanders, Golden Globe-nominated Lou Diamond Phillips, popstar Aaron Carter, N' Sync's Joey Fatone along with the Grammy-winning Coolio. You will also see recording star Taylor Dayne, comedian Cheech Marin and Miss USA 2011, Alyssa Campanella, all competing for the crown of best celebrity cook. It looks likes any hopes of a men vs. women cook-off is out of the picture which could have upped the ante of the prize even more!
There is no word yet as to which celebrities been placed on Rachel Ray's or Guy Fieri's team. You will just have to tune in to find out who is a proclaimed kitchen diva and who is said to be "a crime against food" (hint: he sure does think he is cool!).
